Malabar grouper

Epinephelus malabaricus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–41 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsMay, June, and July
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) renjus box, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The Malabar grouper also known as blackspot rockcod, estuary rockcod, giant rock cod, greasy grouper, Malabar rockcod, Morgan's cod or speckled grouper, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region. It has entered the Mediterranean Sea from the Red Sea by way of the Suez Canal as a Lessepsian migrant.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Malabar grouper”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 41 records
February: 31 records
March: 49 records
April: 44 records
May: 102 records
June: 74 records
July: 69 records
August: 68 records
September: 50 records
October: 67 records
November: 55 records
December: 37 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–41 m · Deepest record: 87.5 m

0–10 m: 34 records
10–20 m: 5 records
20–30 m: 5 records
30–40 m: 11 records
40–50 m: 4 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 38 records
24–26 °C: 50 records
26–28 °C: 90 records
28–30 °C: 78 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Malabar grouper, Blackspot Cod, Blackspotted Rockcod, Estuary Cod, Estuary Rock-cod, Malabar Cod, Malabar Rock-cod, Malabar Rockcod, Morgan's Cod

Names in 7 more languages

German: Malabar-Zackenbarsch
Spanish: Mero de Malabar, Mero Malabárico
French: Grand gueule, Loche ronde, Mère loche, Mère loche, Mérou de Malabar, Mérou de Malabar, Mérou malabare, Mérou malabar, Mérou malabar, Mérou Malabare
Indonesian: Kerapu lumpur
Japanese: Yaitohata, ヤイトハタ
Thai: ปลากะรังน้ำกร่อย
Simplified Chinese: 來貓, 厲麻, 瑪拉巴石斑魚, 石斑, 虎麻, 過魚, 馬拉巴

Other scientific names: Cephalopholis malabaricus, Epinephalus malabaricus, Epinephelus cylindricus, Epinephelus malabrica, Epinephelus salmoides, Epinephelus salmonoides, Holocentrus malabaricus, Holocentrus salmoides, Serranus crapao, Serranus estuarius, Serranus polypodophilus, Serranus salmonoides, Serranus semipunctatus, Serranus semi-punctatus

Similar species

Blacktip grouper
Epinephelus fasciatus
Honeycomb grouper
Epinephelus merra
Areolate grouper
Epinephelus areolatus
Garrupa
Epinephelus coeruleopunctatus
Orange-spotted grouper
Epinephelus coioides
Brown-marbled grouper
Epinephelus fuscoguttatus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
962 open-data records from 1801 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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